Tuesday morning, I had my weekly visit with Dr. Gulbrandson to drain the fluid from my incision. I don't know when these visits will end. Next week, I'll be back!
Tuesday afternoon, I met with the Oncologist, Dr. Bobolis. Her reputation precedes her as a very compassionate and sought after doctor in this area. I'm glad to be able to have her as my doctor although getting her office to actually make my appointment was somewhat of a challenge. Anyway, I thought the appointment would be as simple as me showing up and her telling me what my treatment would be. I should know by now that nothing is really simple.
The good news is that my particular kind of cancer is not very aggressive and fast growing. The bad news is that I have another decision to make about treatment. I have felt good since my surgery, relieved really, and haven't thought about the next phase too much, but now I have to focus again and figure out what to do.
The cancer I have will best be treated with hormone therapy which will be a pill that I will take for the next 5 years that will suppress my estrogen and progesterone levels. With this therapy, the chances of being cancer free is 85%. In addition to this, if I undergo chemo therapy, that number will increase to 90%. Both those numbers are pretty good, unless of course, I am in the 10-15% where it comes back. I think I was a little disappointed when I heard this because I had thought that chemo would kill all the cancer cells, but nothing is 100%.
Tuesday afternoon, I met with the Oncologist, Dr. Bobolis. Her reputation precedes her as a very compassionate and sought after doctor in this area. I'm glad to be able to have her as my doctor although getting her office to actually make my appointment was somewhat of a challenge. Anyway, I thought the appointment would be as simple as me showing up and her telling me what my treatment would be. I should know by now that nothing is really simple.
The good news is that my particular kind of cancer is not very aggressive and fast growing. The bad news is that I have another decision to make about treatment. I have felt good since my surgery, relieved really, and haven't thought about the next phase too much, but now I have to focus again and figure out what to do.
The cancer I have will best be treated with hormone therapy which will be a pill that I will take for the next 5 years that will suppress my estrogen and progesterone levels. With this therapy, the chances of being cancer free is 85%. In addition to this, if I undergo chemo therapy, that number will increase to 90%. Both those numbers are pretty good, unless of course, I am in the 10-15% where it comes back. I think I was a little disappointed when I heard this because I had thought that chemo would kill all the cancer cells, but nothing is 100%.
So here is my dilemma, do I go for the gold and go through chemo for only a 5% advantage? As much as I don't want to lose my hair or become nauseated, I'm not talking about those things. Chemo is a poison. Are there other long term effects that might outweigh the 5% advantage? These are the questions I face as I make my decision.
As of now, I'm thinking I probably will have both kinds of therapy unless I discover other information that changes my mind. I would like to think that I have done everything possible to rid my body of cancer and keep it from coming back. I know I should make other changes, too, involving my diet, although my doctor said there was no scientific proof that dietary changes affect the return of cancer or not. It just seems reasonable to me that eating healthier wouldn't hurt.
Wednesday, I had a follow up appointment with the Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Dutton. She just basically said that I didn't need radiation now. If cancer ever came back in my breast area then it could be treated with radiation. It's good to know all your options!
So I'm on to the next phrase... nausea and hair loss...bring it on!
*************************************************
Just a note to remind you that I'm working to catch up on some of my early posts. These are about things that happened before I started my blog. The 3 most recent ones are:
Biopsy Results are Inconclusive! (Posted April, 22, 2013)
Stereotactic Biopsy (Posted March 14, 2013)
Oh Christmas Tree! (Posted March 14, 2013)
These are all listed with links on the right side column under My Journey...the beginning.
No comments:
Post a Comment